Musical Intimacy
by clay phoenix
Summary: Sasuke likes to sing, Naruto is a drummer, why not make a band? Oh, and Sasuke gets strep throat. Please read author notes. SasuNaru.


_**NOTES: **__Okay, so, I was planning this to be some kind of multi-chaptered fic, but I wanted to post what I have so far to see if it's bearable. These are just random scenes, and they're in chronological order, but some of the scenes are incomplete. I know I didn't write any scenes with Sasuke actually singing, but believe me, he's the lead singer, I just thought the last scene would be fun to write. By the way, this is not beta'd, nor is it even really spell-checked, so if there are any mistakes, ignore them._

_**I need reviews, I need help. If you have any ideas or feedback for my story, please tell me. I'll give you a cookie!**_

Every morning as he walked past Naruto's house, Sasuke heard the blond bashing on the drums Kakashi-sensei had gotten him for his birthday. Why was Sasuke walking past Naruto's house every morning? Well, that was one of many paths to get to the training grounds, and he liked to hear the beats Naruto pounded out on his drums when he got bored. He seemed to have a natural talent.

Kakashi had gotten him the drums to take his anger out on whenever he wasn't training, and so he'd have a personal hobby _besides_ training. Naruto of course, not used to getting presents, thanked his teacher profusely for it.

It took a while to get to the training grounds when he used the path by Naruto's house, but he'd do anything to catch a glimpse of the blond boy in the morning, if he was lucky. Sometimes he'd see Naruto outside walking around, or sitting on the steps that led to the building he lived in, or out punching a tree. He really was odd sometimes. _I mean, what did the tree ever do to him?_

Poor Sasuke had been mulling over how he felt about Naruto for some time, and as annoyed as he was about it, he couldn't shake off the fact that maybe he was just a little _too_ attached to the boy. He was starting to believe that if he didn't somehow get it off his chest soon, he was going to murder something. Preferably his brother, if applicable.

And that's how Sasuke found himself walking down the main street of Konoha the day he was finally mission-free.

The raven-haired boy made his way towards an all-too-familiar ramen stand where he knew a certain teammate of his would be there stuffing his mouth full of noodles. The prospect of sharing his thoughts with Naruto had been bothering him for quite a while now; would he laugh at him when he told him the truth? Would he sneer at him for having such feelings for another boy? After all, Naruto _was_ infatuated with his precious Sakura-_chan_. Sasuke pushed the curtain in front of the stand out of the way to enter and sit down on the stool next to the bane of his existence. _Okay, maybe not the _bane.

Naruto, too lost in the heavenly taste of his miso-flavored ramen noodles, took no notice of his companion until Sasuke spoke.

"Naruto."

He turned his head to the right.

"Woah, Sasuke! What are you doing here?" He said after swallowing a mouthful of soup.

"I just wanted to talk to you about something," said Sasuke, averting his eyes to the counter-top. It was suddenly extremely interesting.

"About what?" Naruto squinted at him in suspicion. _What an idiotic face._

"Uh, well, I think you should know that I like -," Sasuke choked on the word. "I...like to sing," he finally finished, mentally slapping himself upside the head. _I like _you, _you asshat!_

Naruto gave him a look of bewilderment. Well, that was sure random.

"You? A singer? You've gotta be shitting me," Naruto said through the noodles in his mouth. Sasuke sighed at his own stupidity; now he was going to have to carry on a conversation about his secret hobby to avoid talking about a totally _different_ hobby of his.

"I'm not," Sasuke replied, shaking his head. His black hair fell into his eyes as he looked up at Naruto. "I like to sing. Is that too hard for your miniscule brain to understand?"

"No, it's not, but—," Naruto paused. "Wait a minute, fuck you." He added after just noticing the insult and Sasuke smirking. He wanted to slap that taunting look off the dumb prodigy's face.

_Wait—dumb prodigy? Hah! Oxymoron! _

_...Naruto, __**you're**__ the moron._

_...I know._

"Gladly," Sasuke muttered.

"Huh?" Naruto contributed, shaking himself out of his mental conversation.

"Nothing," said the dark-eyed boy, brushing his hair out of his face with a finger. "Well, now that I think about it," he coughed once in a casual manner, "Since you're a drummer, I was thinking we could...make a band -" _**Or love**_"- or...something," Sasuke trailed off.

The idea had just came to him, an excuse to spend more time with Naruto. After all, he only made contact with him during missions and training with Kakashi.

Naruto stared at him for a moment. "What...kind of...band?" He asked.

"The kind that needs drums and singing, fuckwit."

"So, are there any other instruments you'd like in this band, your royal asshole?"

"Well, of course, it'd be nice to have some guitars," said Sasuke in deep thought. "Doesn't Chouji know how to play the guitar? It was Chouji or Ino -," Sasuke shuddered at the thought of one of his fangirls being in their band. _Not a chance in hell._

"Chouji knows Guitar and Drums. Shikamaru can play the keyboard really good, you know the kind with all those different sounds on it, like organs and bamboo flutes and stuff, I heard him playing it when I dropped off some things at his house once. How do you know how to write music?" Naruto inquired, because _inquire_ is a bigger word than _ask_.

"I wasn't _only_ trained in the ninja arts, you know," Sasuke scoffed. "I happen to know how to play the guitar, and back when I was little, my mom had me go through singing lessons. I'm not really sure why, though." Sasuke slipped into deep thought again. Naruto stared at his comrade, slightly taken aback by his new behavior. Sasuke had never really expressed any interest in anything, bar training and getting missions done right. Naruto had never actually imagined Sasuke knowing about anything that didn't have to do with being a ninja.

_Well, at least it's a change..._

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Naruto and Sasuke walked in complete silence as they neared the Nara residence. For all they knew, Shikamaru would brush their request off as 'troublesome' and slam the door in their faces, but why not try? After all, they had nothing to lose.

_Shit, shit, shit, now after all that band talk he's gonna want me to sing, and I'm going to have to sing in front of people if we ever get a real band going, shit, __**shit**_

"So...how are we going to ask him?" Naruto suddenly spoke up. Sasuke paused.

"I can't believe I'm doing this," he muttered.

"It was your idea, retard," scoffed Naruto, glaring at the dirt sweeping past his feet.

"I know," Sasuke replied in a dark tone. Suddenly the two genin heard someone calling them, just a distance away.

"Sasuke-kuuun!!!" Sakura was running to catch up with them, a bag of groceries in hand.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto beamed.

"Hey, Naruto. What are you guys up to?"

"We were just going to Shikamaru's house to ask him if he'll be in our ba-," Sasuke slapped a hand over Naruto's mouth. There was an awkward silence.

"We were going to ask him if he'll come train with us today," Sasuke deadpanned.

"O-oh, okay then. Well, after that, do you guys wanna go get something to eat?" Sakura replied, brushing her free hand through her light-pink hair.

"Naruto just ate four bowls of ramen," said Sasuke, glaring at the road in front of him. Naruto elbowed him in the side.

"Of course we wanna go!" Naruto grinned. Sakura smiled in return.

"All right, but I have to drop these off at my house first. My mom made me go out and get some groceries we need and I told her to make Dad do it, but she told me Dad was a good-for-nothing, so now I'm stuck with the job," Sakura explained.

"Do you want me to carry the bag?" Naruto asked.

"Oh, no! I'll be fine, I'm just going to my house. I'll meet you guys, uh, at that icecream shop down the road?" She pointed. Naruto looked in the direction of her finger to see a shop called 'Harajuku Ice Cream' sitting on the corner of Main Street.

"Okay."

"Later, Sasuke! Bye Naruto!" Waving, she walked off into the direction of her house. Another long silence descended upon the boys.

"Hey, Sasuke," Naruto punctured the silence once more.

"Hn."

"Why didn't we tell her about the band?" Naruto asked.

"Because it's a dumb idea," replied Sasuke.

"Well, dumb ideas come from dumb people," Naruto stated idly. Sasuke punched him in the shoulder. "You know, I've never heard you sing," he continued.

_**Shit.**_

"Good," Sasuke replied.

"No, really. How do you expect me to make some stupid band with you when I haven't even heard you sing anything?"

"I've never really expected anything out of you; you're too blockheaded for me to assume you'll ever do anything intelligent."

"_You bast-!_"

"Naruto, Sasuke, what are you doing here?" Shikamaru asked lazily, sitting on the steps leading to his house. It was then that the two noticed they had already arrived at their destination.

"We were just coming to see you," said Sasuke in his usual less-than-interested tone.

"Yeah, yeah! You can play the keyboard, right?" Naruto asked enthusiastically.

"Mm, yeah."

"You should be in our band!" Naruto suggested. Shikamaru lifted an eyebrow.

"Band? You two have a band?"

Naruto decided to elaborate. "Well, not really but we're gonna make one! Sasuke's gonna be the singer and I'm gonna be the drummer and our band's gonna be _the_ _shit_." Shikamaru started snickering and covered his face with a hand.

"Hey, what's so funny?" Naruto asked, confused.

"Sasuke can sing?" said Shikamaru, trying to keep a straight face. Naruto laughed.

"I know, I thought he was joking; I still haven't heard him sing, though. Sing something for us, Sasuke_-kun_!" Naruto grinned.

"No," Sasuke glared at him.

"Why not?"

"I'm not singing in front of you."

"You're gonna have to if you're planning on making a band," Shikamaru supplied.

-unfinished-

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"You have to sing in Sasuke's place, Naruto. Chouji can do the drums for you."

"I can't! Why can't we just cancel the show?"

"Because this is an important gig for us! We can't just duck out! Everyone is already out there waiting."

"We can just find another important gig! And they can all wait out there until they start decaying, I am _not_ singing!" said Naruto, practically pulling out his hair.

"You're the only one with singing experience, besides Sasuke. I'm sure you could do it," Shikamaru tried to reason with him.

"I can't sing for my life," Naruto scowled.

"Stop lying. What's wrong with you today? You're not acting like yourself," stated the Nara, watching as Naruto began visibly shaking. He sent a glance towards Sasuke, who looked at Naruto with concern evident on his face. Shikamaru almost did a double-take. Sasuke, concerned? Why, Sasuke had never shown concern for anybody else but himself in all the time that he'd known him, or at least, that's what he thought. He only remembered Sasuke's stoic expressions and his air of _'not listening!'_ whenever someone tried to talk to him.

_Unless that someone was Naruto._

Well, Naruto _is_ his best friend, but still. Shikamaru 'hn'd once in thought before sighing. Naruto looked up with wide, frightened eyes.

"I-I-I can't go out there and _sing!"_ He was close to whispering.

Shikamaru sighed a second time.

"Naruto, you're so troublesome. You get on stage and play those drums, don't you? It's the same principle."

"Well, if stupid Sasuke—" He gave the Uchiha his glare of death, "—hadn't gotten strep throat, we wouldn't be in this situation!"

"Idiot, don't pin this on me for your insecurities," Sasuke coughed.

"Why not? It's _your_ fault!" Naruto was starting to regain his usual composure.

"Shut up, Naruto. Just go out there and sing some songs, all right?" Shikamaru said, exasperated.

Oh, well, there went his 'composure' again.

"I—I can't sing in front of people. It's different from playing the drums. They're not focused on the _drummer_," Naruto whimpered.

"Don't be a baby. You thrive on attention," Shikamaru replied boredly, already sick of the conversation.

"But! They—everyone—," Naruto sputtered the words out of his mouth before he felt another set of lips on his.

_Wait, __what_

His eyes nearly threw themselves out of his head at the sight of Sasuke moving his own lips against the blond's. He didn't even respond to the Uchiha's ministrations. He really couldn't have, seeing as his legs chose that convenient moment to drop him on his ass—or maybe it was just that they melted under him. Naruto turned his blue eyes up at Sasuke in shock. Sasuke averted his eyes to the wall, and if you squinted, you could even see him blushing in the slightest. He coughed.

"Get your ass out there, moron," he mumbled, and Naruto absently nodded his head in agreement. He dazedly got to his feet and asked what songs they were playing before he began to read them over, though he'd already had them memorized.

Shikamaru, on the other hand, was still in paralyzed shock.

_Well, _that_ was unexpected._

He shook his head, tucking the loose locks of hair behind his ears and tightening his hairtie before walking out onto the stage and taking his place behind his keyboard. He absently started playing notes to test it out before they began the show. After him, Chouji came out and sat behind the drums, Sasuke behind him with a guitar in-hand. He plucked a few strings before nodding to Shikamaru.

"_Naruto!"_ Shikamaru hissed.

"_I CAN'T!"_ He hissed back.

"Do I have to come back there?" Sasuke asked him. Naruto immediately emerged from backstage and took his place next to Shikamaru, microphone in hand.

"_I despise you with every fiber of this body and Kyuubi's put together!" _Naruto whispered to him, barely audible. Sasuke smirked and motioned him to start talking.

"Uhh..." was the only sound he uttered before tapping the microphone a couple times. "O-okay, w-well, Sasuke over there is usually the s-singer, but he's s-sick, so they're f-forcing _me_ to," Naruto gestured to his bandmates, "And Sasuke, if you're contagious, I'm going to carve out your innards and feed them to the audience."

He inhaled deeply.

_They're staring at me!_

He exhaled.

"All right, so, here goes nothing," he murmured, glancing up at the ceiling.

_How did I get into this mess...? _Naruto thought as the lights dimmed around him. He could feel the glares of the audience on him now. This crowd was not going to be friendly. Memories of angry villagers appeared in Naruto's mind; he remembered the glares of passerby strangers, the kids being taken away from him by their parents, the insults thrown his way and, as he walked by, he could always hear the murmuring that usually had to do with him, _the demon._

He could hear the voices that loathed him.

He gulped.

"_Guys,_" he whispered, looking back towards Sasuke and Shikamaru. "_I can't do this._"

He felt as if the stares of the whole world were piercing his body.

"_Why not?_" Sasuke whispered gently. Naruto looked genuinely terrified. Almost as scared as he was during their fight with Zabuza.

"_They're glaring at me,_" he replied, glancing towards the ground. Sasuke looked out towards the crowd and realized that he was right; they were practically throwing daggers at him with their eyes. Sasuke stepped up to Naruto, so as only to be audible to the boy.

"Why are they glaring at you?" Sasuke asked, puzzled.

"You know about...everything, right? About me... and the Kyuubi?"

Sasuke nodded.

"It's because of that," Naruto admitted.

Sasuke's expression turned to one of disgust.

"Is that what this is about? You mean to tell me they hate you because of something that happened that long ago?"

"Well, yeah...the villagers have always hated me, ever since it was sealed in me. I _am_ the Kyuubi to them."

"That's ridiculous," Sasuke said, louder than before. Shikamaru walked over to the two huddled together.

"What's ridiculous?"

"The villagers hate Naruto," Sasuke growled. His voice was rough, it was hard enough for him to talk, much less talk loudly. A wave of whispering broke out in the crowd, eyes glancing up to the trio on the stage.

"Why would they hate Naruto?" Shikamaru replied, baffled.

"For something stupid that wasn't his fault," Sasuke replied, rubbing his throat. "God, my throat hurts, are we gonna do this or not?"

"Sasuke, complaining doesn't suit you."

"Shut up, Nara," said Sasuke, "Naruto, we get paid for this; are you going to sing to these people or are you going to run away with your tail between your legs?" Sasuke pressed.

"Are you calling me a coward?" Naruto scowled.

"If the headband fits," he replied, shrugging his shoulders.

Naruto growled. "I'll show you, bastard. Get back to your place!" He ordered. Sasuke smirked and did as he was told.

"Hey, Naruto, did you know the word 'gullible' isn't in the dictionary?" said Shikamaru.

Naruto blinked. "Really?"

"Yeah, you should go look it up later."

"All right. Now, it's time to get this show going!"

Shikamaru smirked. _What an idiot..._

-possibly unfinished-

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End file.
